HELPFULNESS OF ESL COURSES FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS STUDYING IN THE UNITED STATES

Non-native English speaking international students encounter diverse challenges due to language barriers while studying in the United States of America. Universities are committed to assist international students to overcome these challenges, by offering variety of support services including ESL courses. However, most of these ESL courses are academic oriented, and few studies have specifically addressed the usefulness of ESL courses for students' overall college life beyond academic classes. To understand students' perceptions on the helpfulness of ESL classes, this study surveyed a sample of international students who recently completed an ESL course at a southeastern university. Responses of 43 participants revealed that the course was helpful for their academic classes, as well as for their adaptation to American culture which they were new to, and for making a broader social network by communicating and interacting with peer students and the general community. Based on the findings of the study, suggestions for similar universities on valuable practices are provided. Moreover, limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed. With better understanding of the usefulness of ESL courses, university administrators and faculty may offer effective ESL courses to help non-native English speaking international students better prepare for their college life in America. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]